Govt. of India floats Model RFP on Software Procurement Policy

The government of India has floated a Model RFP on Software Procurement Policy to remove inconsistency and help central and state government department and government companies for easy procurement of software products.

The Software Procurement Policy will help in providing consistency to both buyer as well as seller with regards to terms of payments, acceptance criteria, service level agreement and change management etc.

The need for the model RFP was raised by Nasscom and major system integrators like TCS, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, IBM etc. to guide all the organizations across government, so that all variations, vagaries and uncertainties may be avoided.

Based on intensive deliberations, the Model RFP for software procurement has been formulate by the Ministry of Electronics & IT.

The major features of Model RFP provides: Level playing field to all stakeholders by defining appropriate pre-qualification and technical evaluation criterion, aligning legal terms and conditions with the requirements of the IT industry - Template for scope of work and service level agreements, change request mechanisms, dispute resolution, standard contractual terms & conditions, standardization of Intellectual property rights and capping the liability, penalty and liquidated damages.

The software procurement policy will help in making payment terms, objective and easier through guidance on simplifying payment related conditions and incorporating the exchange rate variations.

The software is aligned with the General Financial Rule 2017 and also adheres to the latest standards. The policy will also leverage latest technologies like cloud and mobile.